Arghh! The monkeyflowers (Mimulus aurantiacus and cultivars) are looking great, but a month too early. I had hoped that they would hold off a bit longer and be blooming for the wedding.
I expected the globe gilia (Gilia capitata) to be finished, but was hoping the Margarita BOP penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Margarita BOP’) wouldn’t be so far along.
I expected the tidytips (Layia platyglossa) to be gone, but had hoped the pink clarkias (Clarkia bottae) to be around.
So I am watering and cutting back the California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), monkeyflowers (Mimulus), and clarkias (Clarkia), and making lots of bouquets.
The nasturtium – (Yes, I know they are invasive, and no, I didn’t plant them but I enjoy them every spring before yanking them out. Unfortunately they seed like crazy, but they are pretty.) – are wild and have been blooming for over a month now. Will there be any left in mid-June?
So I transplanted some of the sunflowers into the parkway garden – two have gotten stepped on already, so who knows whether they will survive, or bloom on schedule.
The pots look good, but will they flower on June 12th or will they hold off until the 13th????
I have a new respect for horticultural florists who must make nature perform on an exact schedule!
Cool – a orange monkeyflower in a 'shrub' form to boot. Definitely not what I expected to see.<br /><br />I'm used to seeing purple/blue natives around here. (Mimulus ringens)<br />I usually find them emerging from shallow water along the river bank.
Isn't it interesting how nature makes its own decisions. Beautiful flowers, I hope you enjoy them even if they're a bit off schedule. <br /><br />BTW, my sunflower seed package said clearly "transplant before roots start to fill the pot" or some such thing. Are you sure you can grow them in pots? Mine (transplanted) aren't doing all that great, probably should have started
Hi TM – well the ones I put in pots are miniature and they said they were okay for pots. We'll see! <br /><br />I just need something to fret about for the wedding and this seems to be an innocuous enough thing. I could worry about the unlikely rain event which would be pretty bad!